People have spotted what is supposed to be a 'doomsday plane' flying in circles around a US nuclear air base in a mysterious 7-hour journey, worrying many that dangerous events are on the horizon.
While spotting a plane flying above you is a completely normal event that most people don't even realize is happening most of the time, catching a glimpse of one particular type of plane does have slightly worrying connotations.
The United States government have what's somewhat known as a 'doomsday plane', whose purpose is to allow the president to safely evacuate something like a nuclear blast, while retaining communication across key control centers.
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These planes are modified Boeing 747-200s commissioned by the National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC), and are known as 'E-4Bs' or 'E-6Bs'.
Not only do these planes have nuclear and thermal shielding on the outside, but on board there's also advanced radar and surveillance technology to allow its passengers to remain on top of all happenings in a hypothetical 'end of days' event.
Some people consider the sight of these planes in the air to be a bad omen, as there's a chance that it could signal the president's evacuation after pressing the big red button, so news of a recent mysterious flight above a nuclear weapon base has many eyebrows raised.
As reported by the Daily Mail, keen eyes using flight tracking website AirNav Radar spotted an E-6B take off from Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma and then subsequently fly in circles around Offutt Air Base in Omaha, which is a nuclear command, control, and communications center.
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The flight lasted 7 hours in total before it once again returned to Oklahoma, and the reason behind this short but perhaps meaningful flight is currently unknown.
There might not be reason for concern though, as previous appearances of E-6B planes in the air have coincided with pre-planned test exercises, as seen when President Trump contracted COVID-19 during his first term.
A US Strategic Command spokesperson told the Daily Mail that these flights were 'pre-planned missions' and that the timing in line with the president's illness was 'purely coincidental'.
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So, while there is currently no statement regarding the recent E-6B flights, we can hope that they too were simply pre-planned exercises, especially considering the short distance and strange circling pattern that they displayed.
This is also far from the only time that E-6Bs take to the air, as despite setting the government back around $159,529 for every hour that they're in the air, they are actually used quite frequently, taking officials and the president to various meetings and events across the country and abroad.